The Sunrise
by ValSilph
Summary: Neither of them said anything as they watched this new world slowly come to life.Before their very eyes the sky was changing color, from red, to pink, to yellow, and now he could see tinges of blue around the edges. “Blue sky!” murmured Lina .


**Hey everyone...I just saw the City of Ember last night and loved it! This is my first fanfic after reading it religiously for about..um..2 years? lol, so I hope you like it. Reviews are 33**

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Ember, the book or the movie (sadly).

Lina carefully slid through the crack in the wall behind Doon, who was still carrying Poppy. Lina noticed a difference the minute she stepped through. The air was crisper, sharper, then it had been in Ember, and it almost hurt to breath.

Doon stopped suddenly, and she bumped into Poppy on his back.

"Lina…" he said, "It's dark."

She took in what he said and it felt like a punch to her stomach. A few tears started to creep out the edges of her eyes.

"They were right…" she whispered, more to herself then to Doon, then exclaimed,"But they can't be! We followed the Builder's instructions!"

Lina dropped herself onto the ground.

"Maybe we should just go back—"here her voice broke, "—maybe we were wrong."

"No, no!" Doon crouched in front of her. "Lina, we followed the Builder's instructions exactly. We're in the right place." She sniffled and turned her face away from him.

He awkwardly patted her shoulder, and then pulled her up on her feet.

"We're both tired…Poppy's falling asleep. Let's find somewhere to rest, and figure this out when we wake up," he said. Lina nodded, dragged her sleeve across her eyes and followed him further away from their entrance.

They hadn't walked very far when Doon decided this was as good a place as any. The ground was soft, although a bit damp. He turned to Lina, to find she had already sunk down on the ground, Poppy beside her.

"You…you go to sleep, Lina. I'll keep watch." But Lina didn't answer him, she was already asleep.

He sat down next to her, and tried not to let his eyes close. He realized he hadn't slept for over 24 hours. Probably just been running on adrenaline. He yawned again, and the need to keep watch didn't seem so important anymore. He needed to rest, anyway.

Doon lay down on his back a foot away from Lina and Poppy and shivered. The air was colder then he though it should be. Looking over at Lina, he wondered if she was as cold as he was. Telling himself that was all he was thinking about, he slid a little closer and draped his arm across hers. Lina didn't awake but she shifted against his arm, getting comfortable. Doon swallowed. Her hair was against his cheek and it smelled lovely, full of Lina. Finally his eyes began to close again, and he drifted off into a blissful sleep.

When Doon awoke, he thought it must have been several hours later. Lina was still curled comfortably in his arms and he was loath to move, but told himself he needed to stay awake. Carefully shifting her to one side, he sat up. Determined to stay awake now, he looked around him and was surprised to discover the world was not as dark as they had originally thought. There was a strange white light in the sky, and it cast a very pale glow over everything. It created shadows and strange shapes and Doon began to wish they had brought the candles with them.

He must have dozed off again, for suddenly Poppy was tugging on his sleeve. Cracking open one eye he looked at her groggily. She garbled something he didn't understand and pointed into the distance. Then, Doon saw what she was looking at. Low in the sky, there was a bright, red and yellow and pink light…it was creeping along the edges of the sky, and the world was no where near as dark, as it had been. In fact, he could see Lina perfectly from where she lay beside him on the ground. Lina…

"Lina…" he reached over and touched her neck, carefully. He couldn't help but touch her hair, briefly, before moving his hand away. It was very soft and felt as it had smelt. Her eyes flew open now, and she sat up quickly.

Neither of them said anything as they watched this new world slowly come to life. Before their very eyes the sky was slowly changing color, from red, to pink, to yellow, and now he could see tinges of blue around the edges.

"Blue sky!" murmured Lina joyously.

Doon stood up suddenly, pulling Lina and Poppy with him.

"What are you waiting for?" He said. "Come on!" and began walking. Now that they could see, there was nothing stopping them. Lina laughed merrily behind him. "Doon! We _were_ right! There is more to this world them Ember!"

He couldn't stop himself then, so he ran back and caught her up in his arms.

"Doon!" She exclaimed, then she pressed her face against his shoulder as he twirled her around. He set, her down, his fingers lingering on the small of her back, her eyes lingering on his…and then Poppy called to them, she must have started walking, and they hurried to catch up with her, calling "Poppy! Wait up!", and they set off to explore the new world, together.


End file.
